Ancient whispers sneak
And hide, twixt rocks and grasses
Await silent shade...
It's a good thing we waited to take the ferry out of Royan; the ride we had today made it totally worth the wait and blistering pace. The peninsula across from Royan is essentially half forest and half vineyards, with the forest half at the top and the other spreading from Bordeaux at the bottom.
Did I mention we got to ride a ferry??? Woot!
Along the forest part, we saw a little spot on our map labelled as an archaeological site, so we decided to take our siesta there. It was a series of ruins (there are photos in our Picasa album) that indicated a number of things that had been built on the site since Roman times. There was a temple (the signboards indicated that they weren't sure whom it was built for the worship of...), a marketplace, a theatre, and a house.
The house had my favourite signboard. It discussed the story of a baron who displeased his village to the point that they exiled him and sent him to live in the middle of nowhere. He found the abandoned theatre waiting for him on that patch of land, so he dismantled a lot of it to build his new place of residence. It's as though he wanted to make sure everyone new he was enough of a jerk that he deserved to be exiled. He turned one of the former entrances to the theatre into a vomitorium.
Anyway, we passed siesta learning about the rocks before us and watching part of a movie called "Videodrome." I enjoyed watching it, but it is not for the faint of stomach. For those who know what it means, this film is actually part of the Criterion Collection.
Then, onward through slightly-less-blazing heat towards Bordeaux. We passed famous châteaux on the way there, but apparently the only way to get tastings at most of them is to make an appointment, so we didn't manage to score one. We did, however, manage to get to Bordeaux, where we are camping out for a couple nights. We had a delicious dinner of "Pizza experiment", which turned out edibly although I would not say well. And now we have to buy a new pot, as the cheese from this is immovably coated on ours. But, luck of lucks, the Bordeaux Fête le Vin is happening right now! Wine for Evan and Valkyrie. :D